Some General Comments
1. This Psalm
(along with Ps 111) is an
acrostic poem. In the Hebrew translation this Psalm consists of 22 short lines (or
half verses) which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet (alelph, bet, gimel, dalet, he, waw,
zayin, het, tet, yod, kap, lamed, mem, nun, samek, ayin, pe, sade, qop, res, sin, taw). This is probably an
aid to memorization of the Psalms. The Psalms were after
all the hymnbook of Israel, and
the memorisation of these added to the
rich deposit of truth in the hearts and minds of the Jews. We have
previously looked at a few Psalms in the Psalm
120- 134 range, which are entitled ‘song of ascents‘ – in all
likelihood songs sung by worshippers ascending to Mt Zion, the location of the temple in Jerusalem. They
must have had these words in their minds
and hearts, to sing them as they
ascended. So the use of acrostics, and poetic
language and Hebrew parallelism are
all aids to memorisation of the Word of God.
2. We are not told who the author of the Psalm is, but it is highly likely that Psalms 111 and 112 were composed by the same author.
3. The
subject
of Psalm 112 is stated in the first verse, and it
expounded in verses 2 to 9. The final
verse (v.10) makes mention of the
response of the ungodly or wicked man
to the fortunes of the righteous .
Exposition
V.1. Praise
the LORD!
Please
note that Psalms 111, 112 and 113 all begin in the same way: Praise
the Lord, - hallelujah! Hallelujah is said whenever we are overwhelmed
by great theology! The heart best sings to God, and praises
God, when great thoughts about God are heard and understood. What we desperately need in our churches is more preaching that passionately and prayerfully and powerfully expounds the greatness of God!
John Piper in his book “The
Supremacy of God in Preaching” says this in the opening words of his book:
“People are starving for the greatness of God. But most of them
would not give this diagnosis of their troubled lives. The majesty of God is an
unknown cure. There are far more popular
prescriptions on the market, but the benefit
of any other remedy is brief and shallow. Preaching that does not have
the aroma of God’s greatness may entertain for a season , but it will not touch
the hidden cry of the soul: “Show me thy glory!” (p.9)
So
if Spurgeon and other commentators are right, and if Psalms 111 and 112 hang
together, we shall find that Psalm
111 provides the fuel
for the heart praises God and which is transformed by the
knowledge and the understanding of His great works, His splendour and majesty, righteousness and of His
gracious and merciful providences to
His covenant people.
In
Psalm 111:10 we find the connecting thought
between Psalms 111 & 112: “The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, all those who practise it have a good understanding. His praise endures
forever.”
And
the opening words of Ps 112:1 confirm
and echo these thoughts,
“Praise
the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his
commandments!”
What
precisely is it that produces the
desire for the Psalmist to praise God?
It
is “the
fear of the Lord!”
Here
is the reason for praise. The man who
understands the God of Psalm 111 is the
man who sees God in a right relationship to himself.
He
sees God for who He is, and he is humbled, and he therefore learns to fear
God.
He learns to live life with God in mind.
David says in Psalm 16:8 “I have set the Lord always
before me; (and here is
the result ) because He is at my right hand, I shall not be
shaken”. This is a God fearing man – he always has the Lord
before him!
He fears God more than
anyone or anything. Needless to say
that this is a godly fear, not a
slavish fear “… a delightful emotion, by
no means engendering bondage” (Spurgeon: Vol III, p.15). The fear of the
Lord, unlike the fear of man does not
bring us into bondage, but into liberty – and that is why this man is blessed.
[8] Oh, taste
and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
[9] Oh, fear
the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! (Psalm
34:8-9)
Praise
the Lord!
V.2. His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be
blessed.
Here, the best I can do is to illustrate this from the
lives of Jonathan Edwards & Max Jukes. The lives of these two men were studied by
A.E. Winship (1900- A Study in
Education and Heredity).
Jonathan
Edwards (born 1703), probably America’s greatest theologian and pastor, entered Yale College at age 13 and graduated
with honours. At the end of his life he was
the principal of Princeton University. He
had married Sarah Pierrepont, and their descendants include a U.S.
Vice-President, 3 U.S. Senators, 3 governors, 3 mayors, 13 college presidents,
30 judges, 65 professors, 80 public office holders, 100 lawyers and 100
missionaries.
This same study also examined
a family known as “Jukes”. In 1877,
while visiting New York’s prisons, Richard Dugdale found inmates with 42
different last names all descending from one man, called “Max.” Max Jukes
was born around 1720 of Dutch stock. He was a hard drinker, idle, irreverent and
uneducated. His descendants included 310 paupers, who, combined spent 2,300
years in poorhouses, 50 women of debauchery, 400 physically wrecked by
indulgent living, 7 murderers, 60 thieves, and 130 other convicts. The “Jukes”
descendants apparently cost the state more than $1,250,000.
God
fearing people, people that embrace
the God of Psalm 111 are
mighty in the land; the generation of
the upright will be blessed!
FURTHER BLESSINGS …
V.3 Wealth
and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. On this
text, Spurgeon comments,
“Understood literally this is rather a promise of the Old Covenant than the new, for many of the best of the people of God are very poor; yet it
has been found that uprightness is the road of success, and, all other things being equal, the honest man
is the rising man…. If we understand the
passage spiritually, it is abundantly true. What wealth can equal that
of the love of God? What riches can equal a contented heart?” (p.16).
May I remind you that the true,
ultimate riches of a Christian are not
of a temporal nature. We have treasures that the world knows nothing of! They are virtues like peace, contentment,
security, power in prayer, experience of God’s providence etc. Our Lord Jesus Himself encouraged His disciples to focus on eternal rather than
temporal things (cf Jn 6:27). An
abundant measure of physical wealth may not be
to our advantage.
Once again, Spurgeon rightly observes, “Often, when gold comes in, the gospel goes out”.
Not so with the blessed man. He keeps the gospel close to His heart and the fear of the Lord guides him and directs His footsteps, and if
he should become prosperous (which is not an ungodly thing in itself), this
prosperity does not destroy the holiness
of his life or the humility of his heart.
V.4 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious, merciful, and righteous. Here is the perspective which we
may easily loose in vv 2 &3. It is clear that the blessed man will have
his days of darkness. He may become sick. He may suffer bereavement or
financial loss (Job) It may be that his character is unjustly assaulted or his integrity attacked ( see v.10). He may have to walk through the valley of the shadow
of death- and yet he fears no ill! Why?
Because the Lord upholds Him in his
trial. The child of God is sustained by his God in his darkest hours . ”Never will I leave you, never will I
forsake you.(Hebr. 13:5; Josh 1:5). This is his constant promise. Only one was
once utterly forsaken – for your sake,
so that you who trust Him will not be forsaken. The joy of the righteous man is not conditioned by the nature of the
rough roads that he has to frequently travel
on. His joy is in Him who walks and often carries him on this road. He knows
that in the midst of his trial his redeemer lives (Job). He knows whom he has
believed, and he is persuaded that he
will be kept until the coming of Christ
(2 Tim. 1:12)
V.5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts
his affairs with justice.
The man who fears the Lord shall find that he has enough, so that he can share with those in
need.
He will provide
for those in need because the mercy and compassion and grace received from God moves him to be an imitator of these godly virtues.
He becomes a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7);
He conducts his affairs with
justice. He is fair, and will never rob anyone, nor be a burden to anyone.
He is a resource person in
society.
He contributes in every way- physically, emotionally,
spiritually.
He does not cost!
He does
not drain.
He is like the Lord Jesus. He makes many rich (even though He was poor!)
Vv
6-9 For the righteous
will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. [7] He is not afraid
of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.[8] His heart is
steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.
[9] He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness
endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor.
Neither
man, nor devil will unsettle him. Again, the secret is found in the fact that
this man trusts in the Lord (v.7b).
His courage has a firm foundation.
He
is not a rolling stone but a pillar in the
house of God.
He is not afraid of man because He fears God more than man.
Verse 9
highlights his generosity again -
and all this because he is rooted in God
who through Christ has endued him
with a righteousness that is not only a theological fact but a
practical expression in his life. His horn is exalted in honour.
The horn in the Scripture is a symbol of strength. To lift up one’s horn
usually means to be proud and boastful (e.g. Psalm 75:4) , but in our verse this is an instance in which the
Lord exalts him – humble
yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He
may exalt you (1 Peter 5:6; Psalm 147:6)
V. 10 The wicked man sees it and is angry; he
gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish!
Warning! There is an occupational
hazard in being a God fearing man! The wicked will hate you without cause
(Jn 15:25- Psalm 35:19; Psalm
69:4). Do not be surprised when your righteousness and integrity at work causes
some to be offended at you. Jesus has warned you that this will happen. Understand this, and you will not be caught off guard. Also know this, that
the end of the wicked will be terrible,
and therefore you must not envy them or despise
them. This is the lesson that the
Psalmist had to learn in Psalm 73.
APPLICATION
1.
‘Knowing God‘ leads to a
life of thankful praise. Knowing God
comes from regular
meditation and memorisation of
God’s Word with prayer and dependence
upon the Holy Spirit.
2.
Knowing God produces the fear
of the Lord which keeps us from sin, and from so
many spiritual illnesses and faulty ways of thinking.
3.
Knowing God
makes us truly wise in every sense of the word, so that it is not
surprising when we make wise decisions
that lead to material, emotional,
spiritual prosperity.
4.
Knowing God makes you become an imitator of His character –
gracious, merciful, righteous, generous.
5.
Knowing God
makes you fearless in fearful times.
6.
Knowing God
makes you not envy the wicked.
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